REGISTER

AG Mayne

FIRSE

Australian National

The preceding paper illustrates only too well how a railway was built fifty years ago and the changes in construction between then and now. By the same token the relative demands made on railway communications between then and now have also undergone considerable change such that now we are required to satisfy a constantly increasing demand from all our Branches for more and more communication channels - reliable channels of high quality and many dedicated for specific purposes. Modern management techniques requiring improved communications are not, of course, peculiar to our industry. But our industry is a growth industry, and the scope and variety of our operations are seen and felt as a pronounced impact on our communications.

The provision of such a communication system, from a very small railway settlement on the East/West track, alongside a new line across semi-arid country to Alice Springs in the middle of Australia is not, therefore, a system from nowhere to nowhere, but a viable and essential railway communication link capable of an ultimate capacity of 300 channels with the future in mind - a future which could see it being extended within the next decade or so to service the proposed rail connection from Adelaide, Sydney, and Perth to Darwin.